Field of Light extended for second season

Thursday, 01 December 2016

Internationally acclaimed artist Bruce Munro’s immersive installation, Field of Light Uluru, is a sell-out global phenomenon, demanding the extension of the exhibition to a second season, and will now continue to delight guests until 31 March 2018. The award-winning exhibition, at Ayers Rock Resort in the spiritual heart of Australia, opened to critical acclaim in April and has exceeded all expectations, proving to be a stand-out drawcard to the destination.

Since opening almost 100,000 guests have been deeply moved by the Field of Light, it’s hard not to be. I am delighted to announce the extension as an extraordinary opportunity for guests to enjoy not only the spiritual nature of the destination, but experience it in a unique and mesmerising way,” said Voyages Executive General Manager Sales, Marketing and Distribution, Ray Stone.

The exhibition, aptly named Tili Wiru Tjuta Nyakutjaku or ‘looking at lots of beautiful lights’ in local Pitjantjatjara is Munro’s largest work to date, with more than 50,000 slender stems crowned with radiant frosted-glass spheres over an area the size of four football fields. It is also the artist’s first work to be illuminated entirely through solar power. The spheres, connected via illuminated optical fibre, bloom as darkness falls. Pathways draw viewers into the artwork, which comes to life under a sky brilliant with stars.

For anyone fortunate enough to have walked amongst those 50,000 magical illuminated stems, Field of Light undoubtedly qualifies as one of the most amazing exhibitions in Australia today. It’s proven to be a real drawcard for domestic and international visitors, and with the extensive and deserved global exposure it’s received this year, I have little doubt that a second season will be hugely successful,” said Tourism Australia’s CEO John O’Sullivan.

Field of Light was one idea that landed in my sketchbook and kept on nagging at me to be done,” said Munro. “I saw in my mind a landscape of illuminated stems that, like dormant seeds in a dry desert, quietly wait until darkness falls, under a blazing blanket of southern stars, to bloom with gentle rhythms of light,” said artist Bruce Munro.

I am greatly moved and humbled by the enormous response to the artwork. It’s obvious the combination of the exhibition and a canvas as visceral as this – flourishing from red dirt and tufts of spinifex, in the shadows of nature’s biggest shape-shifter, Uluru, is immensely powerful to people,” said Bruce.

To celebrate the announcement of a second season, Voyages has released stunning Virtual Reality and 360 footage of the Field of Light, where people all over the world can be transported to the spiritual heart of Australia and into the Field of Light, all from the comfort of their own environment.

Official airline partner, the Qantas Group, transported the stems, weighing in total approximately 15 tonnes, more than 19,000 kilometers (11,800 miles) over 32 international and domestic flights to Australia, the farthest a piece of Munro’s artwork has travelled to an exhibition.

Executive Manager Qantas Freight and Qantas Catering Group, Alison Webster said Qantas has a long history of supporting the Arts and is proud to be part of this project. “We are thrilled, as Australia’s national carrier, to be involved in this unique project which quite literally shines a spotlight on one of the most breathtaking and special places in the world, Uluru,” she said.

Guests can enjoy the field in a number of ways – a Field of Light Pass includes transfers, a Star Pass includes transfers as well as sparkling wine and canapes, and for those wanting a special evening under the stars there is A Night at Field of Light dining experience that includes transfers and guests can also arrive via helicopter or camel for an additional charge. Pre-booking Field of Light experiences before arrival is strongly recommended.